1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for detecting a rear obstacle of a vehicle, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for correcting sensing of a surrounding obstacle on a curved road.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In general, when a vehicle changes driving lanes, a rear radar sensor installed in the vehicle detects another vehicle that comes close from an adjacent lane behind the vehicle, and prevents an accident through an alarm or control. At this time, angle information, distance information, and speed information is obtained by detecting the other vehicle, and using the information, it is possible to determine whether or not the other vehicle is in the adjacent lane. Also, it is possible to know the distance from and the driving speed of the detected vehicle. Using such information, the rear radar sensor helps a driver in changing lanes safely.
When a vehicle travels on a straight road, information obtained by detecting another vehicle as mentioned above can be used as it is. However, there is a problem when a vehicle travels on a curved road.
For example, when a vehicle travels on a curved road as exemplified in FIG. 1, the vehicle and another vehicle in an adjacent lane behind the vehicle are not on a straight line, but deviate from each other by an angle ∠A based on the central axes of tire rotation in proportion to the curvature of the curved road. In this situation, when a rear radar sensor installed in the vehicle detects the other vehicle behind the running vehicle, the other vehicle that actually comes close from the immediately adjacent lane may be wrongly determined as being two or more lanes away from the vehicle due to angle information among pieces of information on the detected obstacle. Due to such a misjudgment, a driver may think that there is no vehicle in the lane immediately adjacent to the vehicle, and cause an accident while attempting to change lanes.
As described above, on a curved road, a running vehicle deviates from another vehicle based on the central axes of tire rotation in proportion to the curvature of the curved road, and thus it is not possible to use information obtained by detecting the other vehicle in an adjacent lane behind the vehicle as it is, unlike in a straight line. Therefore, there is a need for a method of correctly detecting another vehicle behind a vehicle during a travel on a curved road.